2023 Blue and Gold Tournament: Takeaways, scores from Gold Division quarterfinals
The Gold Division semifinals are set after what turned out to be a thrilling four-game quarterfinal slate to tip off Wednesday's 2023 Blue and Gold Tournament matchups.
We saw the area's biggest upset, a thrilling ending in a district showdown and one of the best shooting performances we've seen in this tournament's 78-year history.
Here are our takeaways from the Gold Division quarterfinals:
Branson shocks Ozark for tournament's biggest upset
Argh mateys, we may have found ye Cinderella team for this year's Blue and Gold Tournament.
Branson is on to the Gold Division semifinals after shocking Ozark with a 66-63 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
The Pirates made their free throws down the stretch in a game that neither could pull away throughout. Nolan Toliver led the Pirates with 14 points while Collin Ross scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to send Ozark to the fifth-place bracket.
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Ozark had its chances late with big shots from Phin Scott in the final minutes. He scored 14 points with four 3s. The Tigers couldn't get a halfcourt heave at the buzzer to fall as Branson advanced.
Branson finds itself in a Blue and Gold Tournament semifinal where it will have a chance to make its first championship appearance since its threepeat from 2007-09.
Central is the most overwhelming team in the Ozarks
The closest thing to the Showtime Lakers that Springfield has to offer is the Central Bulldogs this season. When they want to put on a show, they put on a show.
Central was phenomenal in its 86-43 win over Ash Grove to advance to the semifinals. The game was never in question as the Bulldogs got a wide-open layup seconds into the game, and their defense played as well as the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Four players scored 14 points or more with Bryce Walker leading the way at 21. Tyrique Brooks continued a solid tournament with one highlight dunk and three 3s en route to 17 points. Keion Epps added 15 points, and Tayshaun Wells went for 14.
Central's defense was just as fun to watch as its offense. It constantly created turnovers and held Ash Grove star senior Brady Nicholson, coming off a tournament-record 50 points in the opening round, to 14 points with only four coming in the first half.
More: Updates, scores from the 2023 Blue and Gold Tournament quarterfinals
Central appears to be the overwhelming favorite to win the Gold Division title for its first Blue and Gold Championship in 40 years. An argument is also forming that the Bulldogs are the best team in southwest Missouri and would be the favorite to win a loaded Class 6 district that also features Kickapoo, Nixa, Republic, Ozark, Glendale and others.
A win on Thursday would secure Central its first Blue and Gold Tournament championship appearance since 1984 and a chance at winning their first title since the year before.
Amare Witham has Glendale looking like a team capable of winning the tournament
Amare Witham scored 37 points and tied a Blue and Gold Tournament record by knocking down nine 3-pointers during Glendale's dominant 73-48 win over Strafford to cap off the Gold Division quarterfinals.
Witham scored the Falcons' first 23 points in the first quarter while making seven of his 3s. Strafford didn't have much of an answer for one of the better shooting performances the tournament has ever seen.
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Glendale, as a team, played much better than it did against Marshfield the night before. After Witham went off in the first quarter, he created plays for others while the Falcons played great defense. It limited Strafford star Cody Voysey to just 10 points, with all of them coming in the first quarter.
Sparta gets late-game heroics from Jacob Lafferty to sneak past Greenwood
Sparta star senior Jacob Lafferty went coast-to-coast for a go-ahead layup and then stole the ball at midcourt in the final seconds for a breakaway dunk to save the Trojans from elimination in a 43-40 victory.
Lafferty finished the game with 29 points and scored 12 in the fourth quarter. He and starting point guard Walker Loveland, who finished with nine points, scored every point for the Trojans until the fourth quarter.
More: Why the Blue and Gold brings out the heroics in Sparta star Jacob Lafferty
Greenwood led by as many as five in the fourth quarter in a game by which points were hard to come. Collin Clark scored two of his eight points on a jumper with 1:04 left to put the Blue Jays up by four, but it was the last time they'd score.
Sparta is in the semifinals for the second straight year after finishing as the Blue Division runner-up a year ago. The Trojans last made back-to-back championship appearances in 1953 and 1954.
Blue Division quarterfinal results
5 p.m. — No. 1 Nixa vs. Mountain Grove
6:30 p.m. — No. 4 Logan-Rogersville vs. No. 5 Fair Grove
8 p.m. — No. 2 Republic vs. No. 7 Catholic
9:30 p.m. — No. 3 Hartville vs. No. 6 Willard
Gold Division quarterfinal results
No. 1 Central 86, No. 8 Ash Grove 43
No. 4 Sparta 43, No. 5 Greenwood 40
No. 7 Branson 66, No. 2 Ozark 63
No. 3 Glendale 73, No. 6 Strafford 48
Blue Division semifinal schedule on Thursday
Winners bracket games in Great Southern Bank Arena
7 p.m. — TBD
8:30 p.m. — TBD
Gold Division semifinal schedule on Thursday
Winners bracket games in Great Southern Bank Arena
4 p.m. — No. 1 Central vs. No. 4 Sparta
5:30 p.m. — No. 3 Glendale vs. No. 7 Branson
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Blue and Gold Tournament 2023: Gold Division takeaways, scores
